The best Ansu Fati is back but Barcelona are still lacking consistecncy

Barcelona needed it. A game to dream again. A performance to project a better future. But Sunday also showed some flaws against a beatable rival in a match played in the team's comfort zone this season: Camp Nou. 

A first have to believe was followed by an alarming second period in the 2-1 win against Levante. Barcelona ended up sustaining themselves thanks to two goals from the electric Ansu Fati and two assists from the brilliant Leo Messi. 

Quique Setien insisted on the classic 4-3-3, but he's still trying to make changes elsewhere, this time with one of his biggest concerns: defensive work without the ball. 

Barça defended in a 4-2-3-1, with De Jong dropping in alongside Busquets, freeing Messi up.

In the first 45 minutes, it worked well and the team looked much more compact. Pique and Lenglet did well and the best version of Ansu was back on show. 

The 17-year-old refound his goalscoring touch and demonstrated his pace. He scored twice, both times through the legs of goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez, who didn't have time to anticipate what the youngster was going to do. 

Ansu was in a rush to score because he'd not done so since Inter in December. And with his two goals, he broke a record, becoming the youngest player to score a brace in La Liga. 

It is worth pointing out again that Ansu is 17, even though he plays with at Camp Nou in the most natural way. Messi looks for him time and again. He believes in him. 

The first assist came from a 40-yard pass through the middle. The work of a genius. Barça needed the three points to not fall further behind Madrid. 

But they also needed to lift expectations. They managed it with a good 45-minute performance, perhaps the best of the season. A first half to dream, with Semedo producing his best game since he signed from Benfica. 

BAD HABITS 

Setien said it in his presentation: this Barça have brilliant phases of play but lack consistency. And since he arrived, he's insisted on that, although his players still haven't caught up. 

The same happened on Sunday. They lost control and gave up too many chances in the second half. Luckily, Levante's goal did not arrive until stoppage time at the end of the game. 

It was a reality check. It showed that the team still has work to do to become Setien's Barcelona. For the moment, there are good spells and not so good spells. The Ansu-Messi partnership invited positive thinking this weekend, though.